Brave New Worlds

diaries. What are they to you?" there was silence, then he laughed. "the money! He took all his money out of the bank, didn't he?"
    "Don't be ridiculous. I want records, that's all. There's a complete ham radio, complete. Dr. Westfall was an electronics engineer as well as a teacher. No one could begin to guess how much equipment he hid before he was killed. "
    Carla ran her hand over the box, felt behind it. More boxes.
    "Yeah yeah. I read the reports, too. All the more reason to keep the search nearby. For a year before the end a close watch was kept on the house. They had to walk to wherever they hid the stuff. And I can just say again that there's no cave around here. It fell in. "
    "I hope so," Madam Trudeau said.
    Someone knocked on the door, and Madam Trudeau called, "Come in. "
    "Yes, what is it? Speak up, girl. "
    "It is my duty to report, Madam, that Carla did not administer the full punishment ordered by you. "
    Carla's fists clenched hard. Helga.
    "Explain," Madam Trudeau said sharply.
    "She only struck Lisa nine times, Madam. The last time she hit the chair. "
    "I see. Return to your room. "
    The man laughed when the girl closed the door once more. "Carla is the golden one, Trudeau? the one who wears a single black band?"
    "The one you manhandled earlier, yes. "
    "Insubordination in the ranks, Trudeau? Tut, tut. And your reports all state that you never have any rebellion. Never. "
    Very slowly Madam Trudeau said, "I have never had a student who didn't abandon any thoughts of rebellion under my guidance. Carla will be obedient. And one day she will be an excellent Teacher. I know the signs. "

    Carla stood before the Teacher with her head bowed and her hands clasped together. Madam Trudeau walked around her without touching her, then sat down and said, "You will whip Lisa every day for a week, beginning tomorrow. "
    Carla didn't reply.
    "Don't stand mute before me, Carla. Signify your obedience immediately. "
    "I. . . I can't, Madam. "
    "Carla, any day that you do not whip Lisa, I will. And I will also whip you double her allotment. Do you understand?"
    "Yes, Madam. "
    "You will inform Lisa that she is to be whipped every day, by one or the other of us. Immediately. "
    "Madam, please. . . "
    "You speak out of turn, Carla!"
    "I. . . Madam, please don't do this. Don't make me do this. She is too weak. . . . "
    "She will beg you to do it, won't she, Carla? Beg you with tears flowing to be the one, not me. And you will feel the excitement and the hate and every day you will feel it grow strong. You will want to hurt her, want to see blood spot her bare back. And your hate will grow until you won't be able to look at her without being blinded by your own hatred. You see, I know, Carla. I know all of it. "
    Carla stared at her in horror. "I won't do it. I won't. "
    "I will. "
    They were old and full of hatred for the shiny young faces, the bright hair, the straight backs and strong legs and arms. They said: let us remake them in our image and they did.
    Carla repeated Madam Trudeau's words to the girls gathered in the two sleeping rooms on the third floor. Lisa swayed and was supported by Ruthie. Helga smiled.
    That evening Ruthie tried to run away and was caught by two of the blue-clad Males. The girls were lined up and watched as Ruthie was stoned. They buried her without a service on the hill where she had been caught.
    After dark, lying on the cot open-eyed, tense, Carla heard Lisa's whisper close to her ear. "I don't care if you hit me, Carla. It won't hurt like it does when she hits me. "
    "Go to bed, Lisa. Go to sleep. "
    "I can't sleep. I keep seeing Ruthie. I should have gone with her. I wanted to, but she wouldn't let me. She was afraid there would be Males on the hill watching. She said if she didn't get caught, then I should try to follow her at night. " the child's voice was flat, as if shock had dulled her sensibilities.
    Carla kept seeing Ruthie too. Over and over she repeated to herself: I should have tried it. I'm cleverer than she was. I might have escaped. I should have been the one. She knew it was too late now. They would be watching too closely.
    An eternity later she crept from her bed and dressed quietly. Soundlessly she gathered her own belongings, and then collected the notebooks of the other girls, and the pens, and she left the room. There were dim lights on throughout the house as she made her way silently down stairs and through corridors. She left a pen by one of the outside